Life's a Pile of Peanuts
by NepgyaHeart
Summary: Mikleo finds Edna alone one morning and decides to have a talk. Many peanuts eaten, several umbrella jabs taken, and one slip of the tongue later, they end up closer than they used to be. Just like Mikleo wanted. All because Edna said, "Never knew you to be a masochist of sorts, Mik-Romeo."


There she was in all her glory, Edna shaded under her lacy umbrella. By the water wheel of Ladylake, she sat in a large chair that seemed to amplify her already small stature. Her knees were pulled close to her chest, and she lazily twirled her umbrella over her shoulder. It was a perfectly reasonable sight except for one thing: a large pile of shelled peanuts sitting on the table beside her.

As much as Mikleo wanted to, he could not pass the earth seraph by without even a word. Not when he had something already in mind he wanted to talk to her about. Not when the large pile of legumes begged to asked about. Certainly not when he knew that she would call him out in that dismissive yet insulting way of hers by a nickname first.

He stared at the seat opposite her, set parallel to hers overlooking the water before making his move. As Mikleo walked closer to Edna, he pondered why and how no humans had yet to claim the table for themselves, but quickly waved it off upon deciding that the peanuts were a blaring red flag.

Once he stood behind the vacant chair, he saw Edna nab a peanut from the table and put it in her mouth. He barely heard her whisper, "158…"

Mikleo moved quickly to sit down, saving manners for those who would reciprocate it with him. Her umbrella shifted the angle it was held at drastically. He said, "Morning, Edna."

Without missing a beat despite how surprised she actually was by seeing him, she said, "What are you doing here, Meebo?"

Mikleo let the demeaning nickname slide by with how jaded he was to hearing it. "I could be asking you that. And why is there a heaping pile of peanuts here?"

She drew her umbrella closer and reclined into her chair. "None of your business." She reached out to eat another peanut. "159…"

"And why are you counting?" Mikleo asked, ignoring her previous statement.

"Are you quite done yet? I'm not exactly in the mood for this right now, Meebo. I thought I could spend today alone. Instead, I get you badgering me with questions? Meebadger?" She didn't even look at him as she spoke in her monotone voice. Mikleo didn't even bother commenting on her new name riff of his, which didn't quite flow as other ones she had come up with before. "160…"

"Well, I didn't completely come here of my own accord. Sorey and the others sent me to find you a while back." He looked at the water below instead of her.

"Why?" It was obvious she didn't actually want to hear an answer.

"They set out for a new ruin. No one could find you this morning, though, so Sorey suggested someone come get you. They ended up deciding on sending me, so I've been looking for you for a while now." He turned to look at her only to be greeted by the smooth pale material of her umbrella.

"If they left without the both of us, why send for me at all?" Edna took another peanut. "167…" She hadn't stopped eating even when Mikleo spoke.

"It was the ruin we found yesterday. We focused mainly on purifying hellions so Sorey felt we should go back to explore some more comfortably today. The coast was clear when we left it, and they have yet to retreat back here." Mikleo watched as Edna's gloved hand came out from the cover of her umbrella to take another peanut.

"168…" Edna shifted the hands she used to hold her umbrella, allowing her to lazily glance at him from the side. "So why did they send you? If anything, only you and Sorey should have gone at all. Spare us the pain of your weird ruin fascination."

"It's not weird!" he exclaimed. He cleared his throat. "Sorey suggested we grab you, and so did Zaveid." Mikleo tried to purge the semi-inappropriate comments the wind seraph made about Edna earlier from his mind.

"So?"

"We didn't all need to look for you, so we voted. And, well, I ended up being picked to search for you. I'm supposed to escort you there when I find you, so…" Once again, he tried to forget things Zaveid had whispered to him.

"Oh, what's that? They all left you behind? Oh, it must be hard being you, Miklonely-o."

"Edna…" he growled. She had a satisfied smirk on her face as Mikleo realized that he let her get to him this time.

"Hm. I'm not going," she said simply. "172…"

"And why not?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm tired."

Mikleo gave her a questioning look. She did not look tired at all. "Okay?"

Edna rolled her eyes and closed her umbrella. Then, without warning, she jabbed Mikleo with it swiftly. He cried out in pain, louder than many of his other outbursts from the same cause; she upgraded her umbrella to one with a pointed tip. Opening it back up and shading herself, she said, "Nice to see how much of what little personal info I tell you you remember." She closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her neck. "Yesterday, if you didn't notice, Sorey went trigger happy with smashing rocks all about the ruin to map the whole space. Thanks to my power, of course."

"And?" Mikleo did not follow. This earned him another jab.

"If you recall a while back, I told you that it takes a toll on me whenever he uses it. My bones ache all over now. 179…" She saw Mikleo's face soften. "Plus, I have a small stomach ache. That mabo curry from last night doesn't seem to be sitting well."

"Sorry, I forgot. Are you okay?" Mikleo said genuinely, holding a hand out to her, almost touching her shoulder. "Wait, if you have a stomach ache, why are you eating these?"

"Fine. Just fine. 180…" She twirled her umbrella again. "I'm eating these _slowly_ , so, yeah."

"Right…" he trailed off.

"Is that all you came here for? You stayed to tell me _that_? Did you come to kill me through boredom? Is that it, Meebore?" she said sharply. "I'd go almost any other way that that. 181…"

"Well, I'm sure Sorey and the others will be fine without me. If you don't mind, I might actually stay here for today." He leaned back in his chair, which had been set up by the inn in an attempt to reassure the citizens and encourage calm demeanors to quell anti- and pro-war sentiments in the city after the Shepard had defeated the dragon on the battlefield.

"I do mind, Meebo," she quickly replied. "Go bother them now."

"No, it's fine here." He knew she was annoyed. He reached over the table to take a peanut for himself, but received another hit from Edna's umbrella instead. "Ow!"

"Hands off." She looked over her food before taking another morsel from the pile. "186…"

"Could you care to answer any of my questions now?" He crossed his arms and looked at the water ahead, which was nearly completely void of any malevolence. "Like why are there so many peanuts, and what are you counting?"

"No wonder you were left behind, Miklonely-o. No one likes people who ask too many questions."

"Sure…" He stared at the earth seraph to his left, who was twirling her umbrella again. This time, she held it high enough to make her completely visible to him. Mikleo gave her a once-over, lingering a little on the fallen strap of her dress resting on her right arm.

"Uh-huh. So, quiet." It was almost a command, not that Mikleo would have obeyed anyways.

He cleared his throat loudly after gazing at her face, with its clear, blue eyes and sharp, small nose for a time. The sun shined brightly on Ladylake, seeming to hit the two seraphs dead-on. Mikleo grabbed at his collar and ran a hand through his hair. "Sure is hot today."

Edna's turn to stare at Mikleo came. She watched as he brushed the front of his hair out of the way, exposing his forehead and the golden circlet on it. He was radiant in that moment, and Edna was glad she was peeking at him out of the corner of her eye. Another peanut from the pile went into her mouth. "195…" She made sure to never lose count.

"Is all you're gonna do today sit outside and eat peanuts?" Mikleo asked, letting his hair drop down to its original position.

"If I say yes, would you go away? Unlike for some, being alone is quite pleasant for me sometimes, Miklonely-o." She almost stumbled on saying his nickname, mind almost somewhere else as her eyes wandered back to the water seraph beside her. "I'll make it Hell if you stay."

"Not quite, Edna." Mikleo tugged at his collar and raised his hair again. Edna turned her head to look at him this time. Her eyes longed for something.

"Just gonna remind yourself of how alone you are? Never knew you to be a masochist of sorts, Mik-Romeo." She wore that smug smile of hers well.

Caught off guard, Mikleo slowly processed the new nickname Edna teased him with. "Mik-Romeo?"

Edna, who had been in the middle of picking up a peanut, dropped it to the pile and used the hand to cover her mouth and an oncoming blush. "I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did," he said matter-of-factly.

"It was a slip of the tongue." She struggled to keep her voice even.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't." Mikleo really wanted to know what was going on in Edna's head, but didn't get his hopes too high. At the very least, this was great material to tease her with. "So you _do_ like me, Edna? You know-"

"I said it was a _slip of the tongue_ , damn it!" she shouted after picking up another peanut. Pinching it with all her might did it no good; it stayed in one whole piece with nary a chip or split. After all, how could a delicate girl as she have enough brute strength to do more than carry an umbrella? She resorted to squeezing the Phoenix plushie dangling off her umbrella the hardest she could. It was a miracle it didn't explode with how much the stuffing seemed to shift inside it.

"Oh, really?" Mikleo led on, sitting straighter with his hands on his hips and a large, toothy smile on his face. For once, he seemed to have the upper hand against Edna. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure, you, you…" Edna couldn't even come up with a clever comeback. With everything she had, she groaned loudly, "Ugh!"

Mikleo smirked and couldn't help a small chuckle resulting from how flustered she was. Red-faced, Edna turned the other way and hid herself with her umbrella. Reveling in his upper hand, he teased, "Something up, Juli-Edna?"

The dainty seraph growled again while twisting her hands along her umbrella handle. How he crawled under her skin so. This was the first time she slipped up and lost her composure while having a back-and-forth with Mikleo in such a way. The charming smile on his face didn't help her relax. Choosing to ignore him, she ate another peanut and muttered, "202…"

Defeat was not something that found itself in Edna so easily, she made evident. But, the way she was taking the loss almost made it a pyrrhic victory for Mikleo. Realizing that she would not talk anymore, he decided to come clean with what he wanted to say to her earlier, hoping that it would at least revert her to her usual attitude. "Hey, Edna?"

She didn't respond, only continued with her snacking. "203…" she droned lifelessly, not even hitting him with her choice of weapon like she usually did.

He knew, through experience, that Edna loved having the last word. For her to clam up as she did made him feel kind of guilty. With a weak chuckle, he said, "You know, I'm kinda glad you called me that."

Again, no response. Under her umbrella, Edna pulled her knees closer to her despite the aches that they had from the day prior. Hugging them tightly with one arm, she reached out to squeeze her Phoenix plushie gently with the other, peanuts left untouched. One ear was kept open for what would follow what he just said.

"I'll admit, all the teasing and umbrella whacks get to me, but I definitely can't say I dislike you." Mikleo was skirting around what he meant to say, and he knew it. Edna dejectedly lowered her umbrella even more; the toes of her boots were all Mikleo could see.

After taking a deep breath, Mikleo blurted, "I like you, okay?" He noticed her umbrella moving, as if she was picking her head up under it. His confession came out fairly smoothly.

From her shelter, Edna managed a blush and a suppressed gasp. She reached her right hand out again to grab another peanut. "204…" She might as well have said, "Go on…"

Mikleo turned away to elaborate on his words. "I mean, despite all the things you put me through, I find it oddly comfortable being around you. You're someone I feel I can take all my limiters off around." He combed his hair with his hand. "I mean, no more than any of the others, and definitely not more than Sorey, but…"

Edna lowered her umbrella. A friendship speech was not going to lift her mood, especially since it was from Mikleo. Not that it ever would have. "205…"

Mikleo caught himself fairly quickly. "But! It's different around you than the others. I… especially enjoy being around you. It's oddly pleasant. Time is fleeting whenever I'm near you. So, there you have it." He glanced at Edna to find her looking at him, umbrella no longer being used as cover. Eye contact was made and not broken by either party, despite how flustered both seraphs started feeling. "Of course, romantic, platonic, take it as you will. I just… like you, Edna." He was a smooth one.

Finally, after a good minute, Edna spoke up. Twirling her umbrella once more, she said, "That's nice..." Her normal tone came back. "206…"

"That's it?"

Bouncing back quickly, she said, "Well, what were you expecting, Meebo?"

Mikleo only sighed and shook his head. Of course Edna would respond like that. But, she seemed no longer bothered by her "slip of the tongue" from earlier. Satisfied knowing just that, he stood up. "I'll leave you be now, Edna."

When he took five paces back towards Shaorune Inn, Edna stopped him by saying, "Nobody said to leave."

He turned around only to see the top half of her umbrella rotating above the chair she was in. He smiled to himself and walked back. "Nobody said not to."

Edna looked at him and smirked. "Didn't you want answers?"

Sitting back down, Mikleo looked right back at her and smiled. "Sure, why not?"

Giving him a sideways glance, she said, "How poor your memory is. The peanuts are part of an oath I have. 207..."

Mikleo racked his head trying to figure out what she meant. Upon remembering a conversation they and the others shared before, he said, "You said you had to eat a specific amount of peanuts every day, right?"

"Do you remember what determines that number?" Mikleo shrugged and nodded her head to tell her to continue. "I have to eat as many peanuts as my age daily."

Mikleo made a face and stared at the peanut pile. "I wasn't sure if you were being serious about that."

"Well, I was. 208…"

"Hold on, Edna. You're up to 208?" Mikleo gawked at the thought, not even paying mind how she managed to stomach so many peanuts that morning, much less every day.

"Yup," she flatly answered.

"And there's so many more on this table! Edna… How old are you?" He definitely did not think before he spoke. And before he knew it, he received another stab from her umbrella.

With a scoff, she asked, "Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age, Meebo?"

Rubbing his sore spot, Mikleo half-heartedly said, "Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

Hiding a smile with her umbrella, Edna took another peanut. "Others have said that I'm a hundreds-year-old seraph. So shocked? 209..."

"No, I guess I shouldn't be." Once the initial shock died down, Mikleo found that discovery not to be that bothersome. He definitely dared not ask how her oath affected her diet. His eyes darted away from the earth seraph and the peanuts to avoid any accidently offending actions or words. Hurting her any more than their usual banters was one of the last things on his list.

After minutes of silence, not counting Edna's counting, she gave Mikleo another sideways glance, noticing his uncomfortable fidgeting. "You're welcome to stay here and watch me eat peanuts for the rest of the day if you want…" She rested her umbrella on her right shoulder, blocking Mikleo from seeing her. "Mik-Romeo."

He stared at the spinning umbrella and smiled. Sarcasm or not, without hesitation, he said, "I'd like that, Edna."

She moved her umbrella to her left shoulder, allowing him full view of her. Not bothering to mask the satisfied smile on her face, she continued, "210…"

* * *

Author's note: This came to me a little over when I was half way through the game since I couldn't easily remember his name was "Mikleo" for the life of me until like the last third of the game. Took me five seconds to recall it right. I could remember Edna's nicknames for him, though, and hey, "Miklonely-o" sounds a whole lot like "Mik-Romeo" so yeah. I latched onto a lot of stuff said in skits, and this was born. I think the two are adorable together. I hope this was pleasant.


End file.
